Protective foot covering



June 18, 1957 M. BACKIEL 2,795,855 4 PROTECTIVE FOOT- COVERING Filed March 29, 1954' INVENTOR.

MARY BACKIEL a United States Patent O.

PROTECTIVE FOOT COVERING Mary Backiel, Little Ferry, N. J.

Application March 29, 1954, Serial No. 419,240

1 Claim. (Cl. 36-10) This invention relates to foot coverings and, more particularly,' has reference to a covering adapted to be slipped over the foot and leg of a wearer, after the wearer has put on his or her hose, the foot covering constituting the invention being adapted to cover the hose, after which ones shoe is put on. a

An important object of the present invention is to provide a protective covering which will prevent ones feet and ankles from becoming wet during rainy or snowy weather. It is proposed to achieve this object Without requiring one to wear cumbersome boots, galoshes, or other type of overshoes.

A further object of importance is to provide a protective foot covering which, while efiiciently preventing the admission of moisture, will still be very inexpensive, so as to be capable of manufacture at a cost far below that required for ordinary boots or overshoes.

Yet another object is to provide, in a foot covering as stated, means for permitting a single size of covering to be readily adjusted by the ultimate user to the particular size of his or her feet.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, and to the appended claim in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a protective foot covering formed in accordance with the present invention, as it appears when being worn, a shoe applied thereover being illustrated in dotted outline.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view through the covering per se, taken substantially on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view substantially on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the blank from which the hosiery protector is formed.

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of a modified form.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

The reference numeral 10 has been applied generally in Figs. l-4 to a hosiery protector formed in accordance with the present invention. The protector illustrated in these figures of the drawing is formed throughout of a thin, transparent, highly pliable plastic material, which, in blank, appears as shown in Fig. 4.

The blank from which the protector is formed includes, at its upper end, relatively wide leg portions 12, said portions being integrally connected along their inner edges, and being integrally formed, along their outer edges, with elongated, relatively narrow flaps 14 each of which is formed with a longitudinal series of apertures 16 spaced substantial distances apart, the apertures of one side flap 14 being aligned transversely of the protector with the apertures 16 of the other side flap.

The relatively wide leg portions 12 taper in the direction of the lower end of the article, and merge into ankle ice - portions 18, said angle portions merging, in turn, into foot portions 20f Ankle portions 18, as shown in Fig. 4, are separated from one another, to permit the same to be fitted snugly about the ankles, and the foot portions 20 are also separated from one another, during the initial stages 7 of manufacture of the device.

In manufacturing the article, the leg, ankle, and foot and 2, and may, if desired, be heat-sealed or otherwise a permanently retained in their folded conditions. however, is not absolutely necessary, and if desired, the flaps 14, after being folded under, may be left unsealed after said folding operation. Between the flaps there is defined a slit 24. 4

In any event, the ankle and leg portions are disposed with their edges registered in substantially abutting relation with one another, and the registered edges are heatsealed so as to be permanently connected, thus to complete the manufacture of the article. a

When the article is to be worn, it is pulled over the foot, ankle, and lower portion of the wearers leg, after the hose H has been put on. Ties 26 are then extended through the registering apertures, and are tied in bows as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Other fastening means besides ties might be used, in commercial embodiments of the invention, the ties being merely illustrative of .one type of connecting element that could advantageously be employed in the structure.

In any event, the connecting elements serve to snugly fit the upper portion of the article about the wearers leg, to bring together the opposite sides of the slit 24 which is normally present between the folded flap means 14.

The shoe S may now be put on, and as will be readily perceived, ones hosiery and leg are effectively protected against the admission of moisture, cold, or water, without, at the same time, affecting adversely the appearance of the wearer.

In Figs. 5 and 6 there is shown a modification designated generally by the reference numeral 28. In this form of the invention the blank used would be substantially like that shown in Fig. 4, except that the foot portions may be extended somewhat. Thus, there are included upper leg portions 30 merging into ankle portions 32, which in turn merge into foot portions 34. The leg portions 30 have folded-under flaps 36 apertured as at 38 to receive ties or the like, not shown.

In accordance with the present invention, the toe parts of the foot portions 34, after said foot portions have been heat-sealed as at 35 along their registering edges, are spot-sealed as at 40, 42, 44 and 46. In other words, at a substantial distance inwardly from the extremity of the toe, a transverse or vertical row 40 of individual heatsealed areas is provided, said heat-sealed areas being very small and being spaced closely apart as shown in Fig. 5. A second row of similar areas 42 is disposed close to the row 40, in the direction of the extremity of the toe. Then, a third row 44, and a fourth row 46 are provided, the row 46 being closest to the toe extremity. In each case, the oppositely arranged foot portions 34 are brought together and heat-sealed (see Fig. 6) to prevent the admission of ones foot past the areas so sealed.

This construction permits a single form of the device to be used by various persons having different foot sizes. In other words, one having a small foot size would not pull apart any of the areas 40, 42, 44 or 46, since the toes of this person would terminate at the row 40. The portion between the row 40 and the extremity of the toe would then be folded under or to the side, to permit ones shoe to be put on.

If, however, ones foot is slightly larger than in the case discussed immediately above, a gentle pull is exerted upon the oppositely disposed foot portions 34, to open the same by disconnecting the sealed areas 40. In this case, I

ones toes would terminate at the row 42.

The same practice is followed, of course, to whatever" extent is necessary to fit the protector to the size of the feet of the particular wearer. If the article is to be adjusted to its largest size, all the areas 40, 42,44 and 46 are pulled apart. 7 v

In both forms of the invention, of course, there is the common desirable characteristic wherein the article can be readily put upon ones foot, and snugly engaged thereabout, prior to putting on of the ordinary shoe. It. is not ordinarily necessary that an overshoe then be put on,

but of course, the construction illustrated and described does not prevent one from wearing boots or overshoes if he or she so desires.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that a single sheet of waterproof plastic material shaped to include a foot portion closed at its end, said foot portion including means permitting variation of the usable length thereof, said means comprising connected areas of the material of the foot portion, said areas being at spaced distances from the toe extremity of the foot portion directly connecting opposite portions of said material and being selectively separable, said areas being arranged in rows extending transversely of the toe end of the foot portion, each of said rows including a plurality of connected areas spaced closely apart throughout the length of the row, each area being provided by spot-sealing confronting parts of the toe end of the foot portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 294,020 Eiserrdrath Feb. 26,. 1884 315,819 Naylon Apr. 14, 1885 377,203 Langen Ian. 31, 1888 440,409 McSwyny Nov. 11, 1890 2,064,566 Richman Dec. 15, 1936 2,247,459 Wolfhard et al. July 1, 1941 2,435,485 Wheaten Feb. 3, 1948 2,670,471 Kaufman Mar. 2, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 463,456 Germany July 28, 1928 

